Following the conclusion of the 5-day Labour Day national holiday yesterday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced the total travel figures for the holiday. On the first day alone, the holiday smashed records with 18.83 million passengers using China’s railways on 1 May. This set a new high for the number of passengers travelling by rail on a single day.
From 1 to 5 May, 230 million domestic trips were made across the country, a year-on-year increase of 119.7%. Domestic tourism has recovered to pre-COVID levels, rising 103.2% compared to the same period before the pandemic. However, travellers spent less than previously and domestic tourism revenue was only 77% of that of pre-COVID at 113.2 billion RMB ($17.5 billion). Nonetheless, this was still a 138.1% increase from last year when China’s tourism industry was still affected by the virus outbreak.
As Hainan continues to grow as a top destination for Chinese shoppers, Haikou’s official customs statistics showed that duty-free retail revenue grew by 248% to 993 million RMB ($153.5 million).
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